Menetou-Salon

Wine52s latest case embarks on a wine journey aiming to show you the world of wine away from boundaries and stodgy tradition. This case showcases Vin de France, an arguably simple wine category without geographical indication or clear provenance. This would once have been something to avoid in the wine world, and indeed many drinkers still associate Vin de France with cheap and cheerful. But in recent years VdF has undergone a remarkable transformation. As experimentation trends in the wine…

Part 5 returns after the holiday rush, making now an ideal time to revisit my Champagne trip from last May. If you’re planning a summer getaway, I recommend this trip — check out my earlier blogs to get an idea of various other houses I visited as well as some general tips on Reims and Epernay. Continuing the tour, this was to be our very first day where we only visited one Champagne house (terrible I know), before having a bit more free time to explore the region around Epernay. However, it was…

Welcome to part 4, which is a little overdue. We now take the tour from the mighty city of Reims to the smaller commune of Epernay, the principal trading post for Champagne in the region and home to many of the oldest, most prestigious houses. The drive between the two iconic Champagne locations is a joy in itself. Straight through the middle of the national park, I think there was only a 10-minute stretch in a wooded area that you couldn’t see sweeping vineyards and various other recognisable…